This guide is a brief introduction to copyright relevant to students, researchers and lecturers. It introduces the basic concepts of copyright, including Copyright, Creative Commons licensing and Fair Dealing. It will also provide some quick guidelines on how to avoid infringing copyright law.
Following correct copyright law is closely linked to avoiding plagiarism and referencing correctly, which the library has guides on.
Literary works - 70 years after the author's death.
Film - 70 years after the death of the last of the major creators of the film, which include director, scriptwriter and music composer.
Computer-generated works: 70 years after they were first created and distributed.
Copyright refers to the legal rights given to the originator of the created material. For example an artist has this right over his painting, to print, publish, reproduce, film etc this material over a period of years, though they may give this right to others at their discretion or by allowing others to reuse it when other people ask for the owners permission.
Remember however, that most journals ask you to hand the copyright of your writing over to them. This is important to take this into account if you later wish to deposit the article in an Institutional Repository. Consult the publisher website for more information.
An author who publishes via an open access route will usually retain copyright.
Though it focuses mainly on the USA context, the above video gives a concise introduction to the copyright concept.
The importance of copyright is an essential component of the modern educational experience. Copyright is important as it helps to protect the value of an author/academic/researchers work, by giving the originator of the work the ability to protect it from unlicensed or uncredited usage. This leads to the prevention of their work being copied to the degree where they cannot sell it effectively or receive credit for it. In this way, copyright fosters intellectual creativity as it provides an incentive for a creator to work freely, allowing them to gain recognition for their work as well as protecting their livelihood.
There are a few exceptions to full copyright however, one of these being Creative Commons. Creative Commons refers to a set of licenses that allows authors of papers and other works decide exactly how people may use their work and for what purpose. It essentially means that they can decide to what use their works can be made. There are six different licenses that are available that are made up of Attribution, that the author of the work should have their name recognised and attached to it, non-derivatives, whether or not the original can be changed, non-commercial, can they make money off using the item, and share alike that all work taken from the original must have the same creative commons license. The six licenses combine allowances and stop some of these uses to form the different license. A breakdown of these licenses can be seen in the video below. It allows students and lecturers to see in what ways they can use certain works. It also allows authors to easily make their work easy to share and accessible if they desire it. However, remember by using this license you signing away your rights to full copyright protection and lessening any financial incentives from the work. Also, remember there is a way to put your work into the public domain completely through the CC0 license but this forfeits any copyright protection including attribution.
